One billion dollar

News / World by Press Association 19/10/2018, 5:32 pm FacebookTwitterWhatsAppEmail Send us a story Sign up to our Daily newsletter The Mega Millions jackpot has soared to one billion US dollars (£770 million), as the second-largest lottery prize in US lottery history gets even bigger. Lottery officials increased the grand prize just hours ahead of the Friday night draw. The prize climbed from 970 million dollars. Although the jackpot keeps increasing, the odds of winning remain stuck at a miserable one in 302.5 million. The prize has grown so large because no one has hit the jackpot since July 24, when a group in California won 543 million dollars. The one billion prize refers to the annuity option. Most winners opt for cash, which for Friday night’s drawing would be 565 million dollars. Officials say that if there is not a winner, the prize for Tuesday night’s drawing would be 1.6 billion dollars, tying the largest US lottery prize. Sign up … [Read more...] about US lottery punters cross their fingers for one billion dollar draw

By Melisha Yafoi in Beijing Pickles have actually come a very long way with the Chinese civilization and culture. And it is now a billion dollar industry and major employer, while also supporting millions of vegetable and fruit farmers. Pickles are fruits and vegetables that have been fermented with salt and vinegar and stored in jars or packets that can be consumed much later than normal fare. The art of fermenting pickles started in ancient China and was practiced since the 1100 BC where the people preserved manly fruits and vegetables to be used in the later part of the year. This was also a normal practice in many households in the South Western region of China, in Sichuan province where the Zhou dynasty ruled. Today, in a small but significant city called Meishan in Sichuan province this industry has grown from a household practice to a billion dollar investment. According to an official this industry is listed as the first batch of incubators for the modern agriculture industrial … [Read more...] about Pickles. A billion dollar industry in China

Not content with a multi-billion dollar upgrade to one of Beijing's existing airports, the Chinese government has set an opening day for their new NZ$13 billion dollar aviation hub. Although the airport hasn't officially been given a name yet, the construction company building it refer to it as Beijing Daxing International Airport, and it will open next year. A lot of its design was done by Zaha Hadid, a company set up by the award-winning British-Iraqi architect of the same name, who died in 2016. When the airport opens, it will have the ability to handle 72 million passengers each year, with the capability to be extended to a size that would see it hit an annual passenger number of 100 million, making it one of the busiest in the world. Daxing will have four runways and 268 parking bays, enough to accommodate 620,000 flights every year. It will be comprised of 1.6 million cubic metres of concrete and 52,000 tonnes of steel and cover a massive 47 square kilometres. The airport will … [Read more...] about Opening date announced for China’s new $13 billion dollar airport

While the announcement did not come as a shock to people in the Co Galway town, there was a deep sense of frustration. Many people insisted there was no ill will to the people who objected, but there was anger that the cumbersome planning system had led to the impasse that saw Apple halt the development. Local businesswoman Susan Dooley, of Peggi Browne Interiors, said the confirmation that Apple was pulling out was a huge blow. "We are devastated. It would have been such an opening for Athenry and for the west of Ireland. "It is such a loss," she said. Independent TD Seán Canney said that legislation needed to change so that the Apple decision is never repeated anywhere else in the country. "Private industry is not going to wait forever, this process has to be more efficient. It's a tough decision to deal with, such a loss. "Here was an opportunity for a regional town to become a flagship which would set a precedent for the rest of the country by attracting in one of the … [Read more...] about ‘The loss of a billion-dollar business hurts our town and country’

Drop's smart kitchen ambition involves new partnerships with big brand manufacturers such as Bosch, GE Appliances and Kenwood in the area of connected kitchen appliances. And after securing $8m in Series A funding in January of this year, investors are recognising that the Dublin-based company is on the right trajectory. "There's a vacuum right now when it comes to delivering the 'Kitchen OS' [kitchen operating system] ...because the large appliance manufacturers can't deliver the Kitchen OS as it can't be delivered by one single brand," Drop CEO Ben Harris told Independent.ie. "There is a market pull, a need from end consumers, and a technology push for this integrated smart kitchen to be delivered. "Whoever delivers on being that Kitchen OS is a multi billion dollar company. And we are better placed than anyone in the world to deliver on that." Created by four like-minded techies with a passion for food in 2012, Drop's first foray into the market was with an interactive recipe … [Read more...] about Irish firm Drop set for billion dollar success with app that ‘talks to kitchen appliances’